Passage to Zarahemla 2007

The story opens with a group of hunters illegally pursuing game in the woods. What they think is a doomed target suddenly comes back to life, darting into the thick brush as the chase unfolds. One hunter, determined not to let the creature suffer, presses on and discovers the elk hanging from a branch, felled by an arrow. Startled by distant sounds, he whirls around as another arrow streaks toward him, and his scream cuts through the trees.

Kerra McConnell [Summer Naomi Smart] and her brother Brock McConnell [Brian Kary] are introduced at their mother’s funeral, a somber moment that hints at years of unresolved absence and hardship. With their father missing for reasons unknown and no other close relatives nearby, the siblings seemingly edge toward becoming wards of the state. In a desperate bid to stay together, Kerra resolves to take matters into her own hands, and Brock, who has already tangled with a local gang, assists in stealing the social worker’s vehicle. They speed away, fueled by a shared urgency to escape an uncertain future.

Their journey leads them to Leeds, Utah—a small, tight-knit LDS community that promises a temporary refuge. They present a cover story: they’re traveling across the country to reunite with a mother who has recently relocated for work. The stolen car chugs along only to stall, forcing them to seek shelter with their aunt and uncle while repairs are arranged. The house becomes a sanctuary, but it also draws out long-buried memories and rumors that swirl among relatives.

Kerra’s cousins tease out echoes of her childhood—strange noises in the woods behind the house and a so-called imaginary being she once called Kid Donni. One night, a powerful earthquake rattles the region, with its epicenter near Aunt Corrine and Uncle Drew. The tremor shatters more than the ground; it shatters the boundary between worlds.

In the aftermath, Kerra is reintroduced to Kiddoni, a figure she believed was merely a childhood fantasy. In truth, Kiddoni is connected to the Book of Mormon, and the earthquake has opened a time rift that allows him and his Nephite people to cross into the modern world. The rift widens as time bleeds into the present, bringing ancient forces into everyday life and pulling the siblings into a larger conflict.

As the narrative threads converge, the rift expands and the past bleeds into the present near the Whitman home. The Nephite and Gadianton armies emerge, clashing with modern-day forces and forcing Brock, who remains unaware of the widening rift, into peril. He is captured by the Gadianton soldiers and encounters a scraggly-bearded man from contemporary times, Chris Chris Heimerdinger. The bag he carries—a stash of drugs given by a former gang member during their flight from California—adds a dangerous new layer to the pursuit.

The story hurtles toward a dramatic convergence as the rift grows larger and the two worlds collide. Chris and Brock cross paths with Kerra near the Whitman home, and it is revealed that Chris is the siblings’ father, long believed to be gone after a hunting trip years earlier. A fierce Nephite-Gadianton battle erupts in the vicinity, forcing the trio to seek refuge as the ground itself trembles once more. Then another earthquake seals the separation, restoring the barrier between the past and the present. Kerra mourns not being able to say goodbye to her Nephite friend, yet there is relief and happiness that the family remains safe and that the father and children are reunited at last.